Rear brakes temporarily seizing on cold mornings

[golfdave]

Having had VAG cars for 26yrs one of the common causes for rear callipers sticking beside the cable problems is that the internal return spring inside the caliper can fail, & usually they use the same spring for both sides, instead of making them "handed". So you din that one side will fail sooner then the other side. You can in some cases retro-fit external helper springs on the lever arms, usually T-4 van or Passat springs etc...

One other problem is that the fixed & moving parts of the calliper/pads stick together & require a good grease..I now use Loctite "heavy duty" which is a grey high temp grease suitable for stainless steel, & wash out proof etc..

 

[kooyler]

Having had VAG cars for 26yrs one of the common causes for rear callipers sticking beside the cable problems is that the internal return spring inside the caliper can fail, & usually they use the same spring for both sides, instead of making them "handed". So you din that one side will fail sooner then the other side. You can in some cases retro-fit external helper springs on the lever arms, usually T-4 van or Passat springs etc...

One other problem is that the fixed & moving parts of the calliper/pads stick together & require a good grease..I now use Loctite "heavy duty" which is a grey high temp grease suitable for stainless steel, & wash out proof etc..

Good advice. I'll keep this in mind.

Cheers!

 

[theDoktor]

Update: My parking brake cables were replaced earlier this week, and I no longer have noisy rear brakes when the car is cold, along with a properly-functioning parking brake. I will be monitoring the mileage to determine what, if any impact the bad cable had.

Upon examination of the returned cables, I quickly determined that only one of the cables was frozen up. Closer examination of the inoperable cable exterior found that the outer part of the cable was significantly damaged and kinked about 18" from the caliper mounting point. There is a metal band crimped onto a secondary outer cable sheath at this location- it too appears to be distorted. I suspect that this damage was the result of a manufacturing/assembly problem, but I am not sure.

In conclusion, if any of you are experiencing noisy rear brakes when the car is cold, and it is still under warranty, I would recommend that you take the car to the dealer and have them verify the condition of both of these cables. Any issues with the brake cables will be readilly visible unless the damage I discovered is covered by a clamp, which is entirely possible. A clamp might conceal the otherwise visible damage. The location I mentioned above will help zero in on the problematic location.

 

[kooyler]

Perfect! Thanks for the update.